School Leadership

Akua Akyea, Associate Dean for Career Development at Cornell Law School leads a re-imagined office focused on supporting students and alumni in all practice areas.As Assistant Dean for Public Service at the Law School, she counseled students and alumni on both domestic and international public interest opportunities and on ways to incorporate pro-bono in a corporate practice.Before coming to Cornell Law School, she was Assistant dean of Career Services at the University of Iowa College of Law. Prior to that, she was director of Public Interest at Yale Law School for five years.  And before that, she was at Columbia Law School’s Social Justice Initiatives — where she directed several public interest summer programs.Akua is a graduate of the University of Iowa Law School, where she served on the Journal of Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems and was a member of the Legal Clinic working on asylum petitions and §1983 cases. She has presented on international public interest careers, working with public interest alumni, and supporting students’ social justice goals at the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) and Equal Justice Works conferences.Akua has also worked on issues of cross-cultural communication and diversity, is a trained mediator, and served as a counselor for at-risk high school students through the Upward Bound Project. She has traveled and lived in several countries in Europe, East and West Africa, and North America.

Education

B.A., University of Iowa, 1993
J.D., University of Iowa College of Law, 1997

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Martha Fitzgerald is the Associate Dean for Communications at Cornell Law School. She oversees marketing and communications efforts to help achieve the school’s strategic goals. During her tenure, she has developed a comprehensive communications and brand strategy encompassing all programs and activities at the Law School.

Prior to joining the Law School in 2006, Martha was the Lead Web Designer for Cornell University. Previously, she was Creative and Art Director at the University of California San Francisco and Senior Designer for the Gap, Inc.

She received her B.F.A. in Graphic Design from the College of Art & Design in Dublin, Ireland. In addition, she has training in brand management, leadership, and management from U.C. Berkeley.

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Shawn Gavin is the Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs and Development. Prior to joining Cornell Law School in October 2017, Shawn spent six years at Northwestern University, most recently as Director of Development at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where, among other priorities, he has supported the Center on Practice Engagement and Innovation and the Searle Center on Law, Regulation and Economic Growth. Shawn started at Northwestern University as the chief development officer for the School of Education and Social Policy. Prior to that, Shawn’s career spanned the nonprofit sector, including leadership roles at Lawrence Hall Youth Services and Voices for Illinois Children, as well as five years at the Alford Group, a national fundraising consultancy. Shawn’s volunteer work includes leading educational and mentoring programs for the Chicago Association of Fundraising Professionals and serving as a Court Appointed Special Advocate in Cook County foster care system.

Education

B.A., Kalamazoo College, 1996
M.B.A., Northwestern Kellogg Graduate School of Management, 2015

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Aimée Houghton is the Associate Dean for Graduate Legal Studies at Cornell Law School. She oversees enrollment and student services for both LL.M. and J.S.D. students. Prior to joining Cornell in August 2014, she led a law school career planning office. She has over eighteen years of experience in law student advisement and law school administration. Aimée is admitted to practice before state courts in both New York and Connecticut. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Connecticut Bar Association, as well as the National Association for Legal Career Professionals (NALP). She served as president of the Connecticut Association of Legal Recruitment Administrators (CALRA) from 2012-2014.

Aimée received both her undergraduate degree in fine arts and art history, and her law degree from The University of Connecticut.

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Ofer Leshed joined Cornell Law School in June 2016 as Associate Dean for Administration and Finance. He serves as a senior level member of the administration, directing financial, accounting, budgeting, human resources, information technologies and facilities operations at the Law School.

Previously, Ofer served for three years as the Director of Finance and Budget at the College of Engineering at Cornell, concurrently serving as Interim Associate Dean for Administration for almost a year. Prior to that, he worked for eight years at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine in a variety of roles, including as Director of Administration and Finance for the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. Before coming to Cornell, Ofer served in various lead finance positions in the Israeli defense/hi-tech industry.

Ofer holds a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration and an M.B.A. from Haifa University in Israel.

Contact Information

See Beth Lyon’s faculty profile.

Markeisha Miner joined Cornell Law School on July 1, 2015 as Dean of Students. Previously, she served as Assistant Dean of Career Services and Outreach at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, overseeing all aspects of career planning and professional development. Prior to that, she practiced as a commercial litigator in Dickinson Wright PLLC’s Detroit office where she was an inaugural member of the firm’s Diversity Committee and co-authored the firm’s Diversity Mission Statement, and clerked for the Honorable Anna Diggs Taylor on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Markeisha earned her B.A., magna cum laude, at Mount Holyoke College and her J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School. As a law student, she served as Executive Editor of the Michigan Journal of Race & Law, Placement Chair of the Black Law Student Alliance, and a student attorney in Michigan’s Legal Assistance for Urban Communities Clinic, where she assisted community development organizations in Detroit with their transactional legal needs. She also completed an externship at the Commission on Gender Equality in Durban, South Africa.

Markeisha is active in several bar and community organizations including the American Bar Association’s Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Section, which selected her for its 2008-2009 Leadership Academy; the State Bar of Michigan, where she served on the Character & Fitness Committee; and, the Wolverine Bar Association, which honored her with its Margrette A. Taylor Distinguished Young Lawyer Award in 2007. In 2010, the Michigan Chronicle named her as a Young History Maker, and Michigan Lawyers Weekly honored her as one of its 2013 Women in the Law.

She has served on the Board of Trustees for the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation and the Board of Directors for Alternatives for Girls. Markeisha is also a member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP).

Contact Information

See Kim Nayyer’s faculty profile.

See Jens Ohlin’s faculty profile.

Fouad Saleet joined Cornell Law School in April 2020 as the new Assistant Dean for External Education and Jack G. Clarke Executive Director of International and Comparative Legal Studies. Prior to joining the Law School, he served as the Director of Special Programs and Professional Studies for Cornell’s School of Continuing Education.

Fouad has a broad range of experience amassed by working close to 20 years in higher education, including at top tier institutions such as Dartmouth College and Colgate University. At Dartmouth, he worked in student services within residential life, and assisted faculty house advisors working with Academic Affinity Living Learning Communities. At Colgate, he served as the Assistant Dean for Campus Life, overseeing several departments responsible for the co-curricular experiences of all students on campus, and also spent time as an Administrative Dean, working with students to maximize their Colgate experience.

Prior to coming to Cornell, Fouad worked at Pearson Education in a variety of functions, including developing online curriculum and course work for several schools across the Northeast. He also helped several institutions launch their online degrees.

Contact Information

See Jed Stiglitz’s faculty profile.

See Chantal Thomas’s faculty profile.

See Kristen Underhill’s faculty profile.

See Michelle Whelan’s faculty profile.